Lost Melody (38 page)

She stood her ground while he looked
his fill. His gaze, darkened with desire, devoured her. His need
for her was evident beneath the pleated front of his slacks, and
she reveled in her power over him.

“You look wonderful. I’ve missed you.”
His voice was hoarse.

“I’ve missed you, too.”

“Were you at the concert?”

“Yes. I was there for all of it. You
were fabulous. You had the audience eating out of the palm of your
hand.”

He took another step back. “Would you
like something to drink? I think I have a mini-bar here somewhere
or maybe something to eat? I can call room service.”

She took a step toward him and was
surprised he took another step back from her. “Hank, what’s going
on?”

He moved past her into the living
room. “Don’t get me wrong, I want you like the very devil, I always
do. But I’m not sure how much of my wanting you is normal, and how
much is still the adrenaline rush. I’ve always passed on the offers
of cheap sex after a concert, so tonight is a first for
me.”

She stiffened. “You think that's what
I’m offering, cheap sex? You think that’s why I’m here?”

He ran a hand across the back of his
neck, his other fisted in his pocket. “No. That came out wrong. All
wrong. There’s nothing cheap about what we have together. I love
you. I’m afraid to touch you. I would be using you for my own
selfish needs.”

He shifted on his feet and
scanned the room, glancing everywhere but at her. When his gaze
came back to her, he let his breath out on a long sigh. “I know
it’s not the Rock Star image, but I’ve never had sex right after a
concert. Not even in college. I want to know…I
need
to know when I take you it won’t
be because I’m still on some high I got from being on stage. It
wouldn’t be fair to you.”

She let her shoulders drop. “Do you
want to go back downstairs to the party?”

“God, no.”

She walked around him, sat on the
sofa, and patted the cushion beside her. “Why don’t you sit here
with me? We don’t have to do anything. We’ll just sit here together
until you feel more like yourself.”

He sat next to her, and she clasped
his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together once again. She
tugged his hand over so it rested on her thigh and traced lazy
circles across the back. He closed his eyes and slid down until his
head rested against the sofa, his long legs stretched in front of
him. She listened to his breathing grow slow and even.

Even in sleep, his grasp on
her hand was firm. His steady pulse beat against her wrist, and she
counted the beats. Each one was precious, marking a moment spent
with him. She wanted him. She wanted to be
with him. She wanted to give him as much of herself as he gave
to her.

* * *

Hank woke in the wee hours of the
morning. Melody had shifted in the night, and she lay curled on the
sofa with her head in his lap, their clasped hands held close to
her cheek. It hadn’t been a dream.

She opened her eyes, and he stroked
her cheek again. Her skin felt like silk beneath his
thumb.

She turned her face to his. Her lips
tilted up in a warm smile, and he cradled her head with his free
hand, and gently lifting her, dipped his head to taste. She sat up
and returned the kiss. He cradled her face in his palms and
stroking her cheeks softly with his thumbs.

“Feeling better?” she asked in a husky
voice.

“Mmm. Much.” He kissed her long and
slow.

Easing her onto her back on the sofa,
he came over her, pressing himself against her core, gently at
first, then with more urgency. She met his thrusts, silently urging
him to speed things up. He had waited too long for feel her beneath
him again, and he wouldn’t be rushed.

He peeled away the layers of her
clothing, worshiping every inch of skin as he uncovered it. When he
slid her sweater up over her breasts, he paused. The key he had
sent her gleamed against her chest. His heart hammered against his
ribs.

She was here. She was wearing the key.
It had to mean something. He dared to hope it meant she had come to
her senses. “You wore it,” he breathed.

“Always.”

He pressed his lips to the key, and
then he kissed his way down to the twin mounds surrounding it. She
moaned and writhed against him. Her hands slid across his broad
shoulders and down his back to his firm buttocks. “Too many
clothes,” she said, tugging at his tucked in shirttail.

“Right.” He stood and shucked his
clothes in a blur. Before she had a chance to admire all of him he
had fished a condom from his wallet, sheathed his erection and
rejoined her on the sofa. The man had skills.

His hands and mouth were everywhere,
making her desperate to feel him inside her. She was on the brink
of begging when he plunged deep inside. Arching against him, she
moved her hips in timeless rhythm with his thrusts until the
shattering release overtook her.

When she quieted, he increased the
tempo. Seconds later, he groaned and ground against her. She held
him until he collapsed on top of her. She placed a tiny kiss
against his shoulder and mouthed soundlessly against his damp skin,
“I love you.”

He pushed himself up and off the sofa.
Cool air raised bumps on her sweat-dampened skin. “Where are you
going?” she asked.

He reached for her hand and tugged her
off the sofa. “To the bedroom. We’re going to do it right this
time.”

“I thought we did it right that time,”
she teased. “I guess I have a lot to learn.”

The shrill sound of the phone woke
them. With the curtains drawn, it was impossible to tell if it was
still dark outside, or if the day had dawned. The conversation was
short and one-sided.

“Tell him I’ll be right
there.”

He pulled her close. His lips moved
against her neck, sending shivers of excitement down her spine. “I
wish I could stay here all day with you, but that was Rick. I’m due
at the ABC studios in an hour for satellite interviews. Guy made a
lot of excuses for me last night, so I have to show for the
interviews.”

“I don’t want you to go, but I
understand. How long will you be gone?”

“A couple of hours. I’ll be back as
soon as I can. Will you be here?”

“I don’t know. I planned to return to
London as soon as possible. I came here to talk to Uncle Jonathan.
I’m going to leave after I speak to him.”

He rolled out of bed, and she
instantly sensed the change in his demeanor. He turned away and dug
through his suitcase. Gone was the tender lover who had given her
so much pleasure.

“Do what you have to do.” His words
sliced at her. “I want you to stay, but I understand if you can’t.
You have the key. Use it when you’re ready.”

He crossed the room, naked,
magnificent, and angry.

“Hank!”

He slammed the bathroom door. She
scrambled out of bed and followed. She placed her hand on the
doorknob and froze.

What have I
done?

Chapter
Thirty-eight

“Hot chocolate.” Sunny set a steaming
mug in front of her. She pushed a bowl of fresh fruit and a plate
with a croissant across the table. “Eat.”

Melody nibbled at the food. It smelled
wonderful but held little appeal. She should have stuck with her
original plan. Things would have been so much simpler if she
had.

“How did things go with Hank?” Sunny
asked.

“Good,” she lied. “He had to do
interviews this morning, so I left.”

Her friend eyed her suspiciously. “He
let you leave?”

“No. I left when he was in the
shower.”

Her friend remained silent and the
enormity of what she had done sank in. Going to him last night had
given him the wrong impression. She should have avoided him
altogether or at the very least told him she couldn’t stay. Not
yet, anyway.

She raised her eyes and met Sunny’s
disapproval head on. “Honey, you better get yourself together
before you lose him.”

“I know you’re right. I want to. I'm
almost there.” She speared a strawberry with her fork and
contemplated eating it. She laid the fork down. “After hearing him
sing the song I've forgiven him for the sneaky way he went about
recording it. But I still have questions I need answered. Believe
it or not, I think I may have found the key to everything. Perhaps,
two keys.”

“What are you talking
about?”

“It may be nothing. I need to talk to
Uncle Jonathan. If anyone help me make sense of all the things I’ve
discovered, it will be him.”

She called the hotel and connected
with Miriam in Jonathan’s suite. He too was doing satellite
interviews, and Miriam didn’t know exactly when to expect him
back.

“Can it wait?” she asked. “Last night
was long, and he had to get up early this morning. I’d like him to
get some rest before tonight’s concert.”

How could she argue with that?
Jonathan wasn’t a young man any longer. “It can wait. I’m glad he
has you to take care of him,” she said. “Maybe
tomorrow?”

“I’ll tell him. I’m sure he’ll make
time for you soon,” Miriam promised.

Over the next few days, she tried
several times to see Jonathan, but Miriam always had another
excuse. By Wednesday, she was sure Jonathan was avoiding her. He
had time to give interviews to every major network morning show as
well as every magazine and radio station in New York but he
couldn’t find ten minutes to see her. Hank, however, found time to
dog her every step.

She wasn’t sure when he
slept, but she knew when he ate because he made sure she was with
him when he did. He escorted her to a matinee of
Mama Mia
and took her to
lunch at the Central Park Boathouse.

Jonathan was avoiding her, and Miriam
was assisting in the scheme. But why? He couldn’t possibly know why
she wanted to see him. That left only one reason. Hank had put him
up to the charade to keep her in town. She shouldn’t have told him
she would be leaving as soon as she talked to Jonathan.

Two can play at that
game.

She sat in the back of the hired
limousine parked near the rear entrance to the hotel. She could see
the service entrance over her shoulder and the bus waiting to
transport the band to Madison Square Garden for the final concert
in New York. Thanks to a delivery truck, the bus driver hadn’t been
able to get as close to the door as usual, so they would have to
walk along the sidewalk a few steps to get to the bus. Melody
waited until the security team opened the service door before she
stepped out of the car. The security team knew her, and they
wouldn’t question her presence. All she had to do was convince
Jonathan to come with her.

He was the first to exit the hotel,
and she moved in beside him swiftly. She wrapped her arm through
Jonathan’s and drew him in the opposite direction of the open bus
door.

“
It’s okay, Vinny,” she
assured the bodyguard over her shoulder. “Uncle Jonathan is going
to ride with me tonight. We have a lot of catching up to do.” She
flashed him her sweetest smile and hustled Jonathan toward the
waiting limo. She opened the back door herself and practically
shoved him into the back seat. Climbing in after him, she glanced
back and locked eyes with Hank. He frowned and shook his
head.

She pressed the intercom button. “Take
us to the Garden.”

The car moved out into the late
afternoon traffic.

Jonathan settled into the seat. “I see
you caught on. I’m sorry, luv. I felt sorry for the poor sod. He
said you were going back to London after you talked to me, and he
wanted me to buy him a few more days.” He graced her with his most
innocent smile.

“I figured it out all right. I can’t
believe you involved Miriam in his scheme, too.”

He shrugged. “She wanted to
help.”

“Yeah, well… none of it matters. I
need to ask you something important.”

“What do you want to know?”

She pulled a copy of a news article
from the folder on the seat beside her and handed it to him. “This
report says the NTSB determined Daddy’s plane went down because of
water in the jet fuel, not because of the weather or pilot error.
Is it true?”

Jonathan handed the copy back to her
without reading it. “I don't like to remember those days. I've
spent seventeen years trying to forget.”

“I know, and I wouldn't be asking you
if it wasn't important.”

He pursed his lips and stared out the
window.

“Please, Uncle Jonathan. I'm trying to
make sense of everything. I need to know what happened so I can
move on. I need to put this behind me.”

“I know you do. You were so young, and
you were so upset we thought it best not to upset you more…with
details.” He turned away from the window and took her hand in his.
“You're a big girl, and I guess it’s time to tell you the whole
story.”